Poultry shackle



March 31, 1936. A. w. DE vou'r 2,035,948

POULTRY SHACKLE Original Filed Jan. 27, 1952 14226612 51 De I ouz INVENTOR WITNESS BY filzefln I ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,035,945 POULTRY snsoxtn Anson W. De Vout, La

Grange, Ill., asslgnor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation oi Delaware Original application January 27, 1932, Serial No.

589,224. Divided and be: 2, 1932, Serial No.

This invention relates to a poultry shackle which is particularly adaptable for holding poultry suspended by the legs for slaughtering, picking, singeing and the like.

' This application is a division of my application entitled Singeing. method and means, Serial Number 589,224, filed January 27, 1932.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, practical and efiicient poultry shackle which is strong, durable and comparatively inexpcnsive, and adapted to be used with any desired type of slaughtering, scalding, picking or singeing equipment.

Referring now. to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

Figure 21s a side view of the Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows the manner in which the legs of the poultry are held by the shackle.

The shackle may be suspended from an overhead ccnveyor by means of a hanger rod i which is provided at its upper and lower ends with eyes 2 and 3. The eye 2 is adapted to be attached to the overhead support and the eye 3 is adapted to be linked intothe bail member i of the shackle frame 5. The shackle frame which is suspended from the hanger rod i is composed of spaced sides 6, a top connecting portion 7 and a bottom connecting portion 8. The sides are bowed outwardly at their upper portions and the top connecting portion is provided at the center with an open pendant 9 preferably formed integral with the frame and consisting of a circular portion open at the top and connected with the top of the frame by spaced portions It! connectedat the top of the circular portion or ring of the pendant 9 by a cross piece I I having a lug l2 depending within the circular portion or ring 9 of the pendant.

The bottom connecting portion 8 is approximately V-shaped and has inclined side portions extending upwardly and laterally from the center of the bottom to the lower ends of the sides 8 which are bowed downwardly or ofi'set at their lower ends at it adjacent the terminals of the bottom connecting portion 8.

The approximately V-shaped bottom connecting portion 8 cooperates with a central straight cross piece I4 located above the center of thebottom cross piece and having its terminals secured to the said bottom cross piece approximately midway between the center of the bottom frame and the ends thereof, said terminals forming shoulder I5. The resilient shackle memdevice shown in this application Novem- 640,767

ber consists of a spring having a coil l6 located at the top of the shackle member which is also provided with straight downwardly diverging sides slidably connected at their lower ends I! with the bottom connecting portion 8 'of the shackle frame. The sides of the resilient shackle member I8 are preferably provided at their lower ends with eyes I9 to receive the bottom portion of the frame and the lower portions of the sides of the resilient shackle member l8 are provided with upwardly tapered openings 20' formed by approximately L-shaped pieces 2| which may be manually gripped and pressed inwardly to permit the reception of the legs of the poultry in recesses 22 formed by the lower ends I3 of sides 6 and the adjacent portion of resilient shackle member i8, pieces 2| being secured at their terminals to the sides of the resilient shackle member IS, The long arms of the L- shaped pieces 2| extend longitudinally of the sides of the resilient shackle member at an angle to the same to form the tapered openings 25 at the bottom thereof.

The'openings 20, therefore, provide handles whereby both resilient shackle members I8 may be simultaneously or successively operated as desired by one hand of the-operator, while the operator is adjusting the legs of the poultry with the free hand. It will be noted that the handles are positioned so as to eliminate tangling of shackles, .there being no free ends or hooks. Shoulders i5 prevent interference between the handles by acting as stops for ends I! of resilient shackle members I 8, and thus tend to steady the entire device inithe hand.

When it is desired to remove the legs of the poultry from the shackle, the sides of the resilient shackle member may be readily moved inwardly to permit withdrawal of the legs of the poultry from recesses 22 without bruising or otherwise injuring the legs of the poultry.

What is claimed is:

l. A shackle comprising a frame, having side members and a lower member, provided at the bottom of said side members with leg receiving recesses, and a yieldable shackle member having sides automatically movable outwardly, said yieldable shackle member being adapted to maintain the poultry legs in the recesses of the shackle frame, said yieldable shackle member being provided with handles within the frame, and being slidable upon the lower member of the frame,

said lower member being provided with stops to limit such sliding motion. I

2. A shackle comprising an open frame having spaced sides and connecting top and bottom portions and provided at the bottom with a transverse opening having constricted end portions, a yieldable shackle member consisting of a spring coil mounted on the frame at the upper portion thereof, and downwardly diverging sides extending from the coil and slidable on the lower portion 4;. A shackle comprising a frame, having side members and a lower member, provided at the bottom of said side members with leg receiving recesses, and a yieldable shackle member havin sides automatically movable outwardly, said yieldable shackle member being adapted to maintain the poultry legs in the recesses of the shackle frame, said yieldable shackle member being provided with handles within the frame, and being slidable upon the lower member of the frame.

' 5. A shackle comprising a frame provided at the bottom with leg receiving recesses, and spring urged shackle members adapted to hold legs in said recesses, said shackle members being so positioned as to remain wholly between the sides of said frame.

ANSON W. DE VOUT. 

